Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. trickery, deceit, esp. of a sexual nature.

[1840		London Mag. Mar. 104/1: [O]ne of the ‘diverting vagabonds’ [...] amused the company with a little of what he called ‘hanky panky,” or sleight-of-hand tricks, swallowing sundry knives and spoons [etc]].
1841		Punch I 88: Only a little hanky-panky.
1851		‘Epistle from Joe Muggins’s Dog’ in Era (London) 27 July 4/4: [D]oute you tutch this race afore ther day, az thare iz sure to be a little bit ov hanky panky aboute it, az I’m a dog.
1856		Melbourne Punch 20 Nov. 3/3: DODGE.-Noun, a move, a fakement, a notion a fixin, humbug, hankypanky, a plant, &c., &c. This word is of almost universal application.
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor III 202/2: I’d do all manner of tricks, just to make ’em laugh – capering, or ‘hanky-panky,’ as I term it.
1868		‘A Political Thanksgiving’ in C. Hindley Curiosities of Street Lit. (1871) 81: Let us have none of your hanky-panky or Adullamite tricks.
1887		Bulletin (Sydney) 5 Nov. 18/4: When I ain’t in quod hoss-racin’ is my favourite hobby. I allus runs to win. There ain’t no hanky-panky about me. I’m the biggest winner – well, I deserves it.
1890		Dead Bird (Sydney) 27 Sept. 5/3: All muster up and look as though / They’ll stand no hanky-panky.
1891		F.W. Carew Autobiog. of a Gipsey 370: There’s supposed to have been a bit of hanky-panky about Sir George’s marriage.
1894		Hartlepool Mail 23 Oct. 3/5: He stated that all his feats were performed by ‘human aid’ which [...] is known in the show business as ‘hanky-panky’.
1900		Sporting Times 6 Jan. 1/4: ’Ere, nanty, now, nanty! [...] don’t start no ’anky-panky with me or I shall dot yer!
1902		Bulletin (Sydney) 2 Aug. 13/2: There is often a lot of hanky-panky in N.S.W. in connection with the sale of property by Govt. officials [...] crooked collusion to sell goods at much under their real value, to the loss of the State or of the creditors.
1907		D. Stewart Vultures of the City in Illus. Police News 12 Jan. 12/3: ‘He’ll get this house coopered (spoilt) before he has done playing his infernal hankey-pankey’.
1909		N-Y Tribune 21 Mar. 2/2: He goes about it [...] with just enough of the hanky panky to add color.
1916		T. Burke Limehouse Nights 144: Now mind yeh ... No hanky-panky [...] I ain’t standing any kybosh.
1920		Ade Hand-made Fables 308: Every whispering Order had a different kind of Grip, with much interlocking of Digits, pressure on the Wrist, and other Hanky-Pank.
1929		‘Henry Green’ Living (1978) 350: Anyway was no hanky panky about her, it was marry or nothing with her.
1930		M. Allingham Mystery Mile (2004) 27: [We] got very pally with old Hanky Panky the Magician [...] took an intelligent interest in the fellow’s technique.
1937		A. Christie Dumb Witness (1949) 68: Hanky-panky, that’s what I say [...] Something fishy somewhere.
1943		M. Harrison Reported Safe Arrival 77: There was a lot of hanky-panky in the matter of life-belts.
1955		R. Mais Black Lightning (1966) 59: You better watch your step [...] You make me catch any young man playing any hanky-panky with you.
1960		D. Lytton Goddam White Man 178: Their mothers thought I was up to some hanky panky with them and didn’t allow them to come.
1975		D. Nobbs Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin (1976) 118: We aren’t one of those firms where people can indulge willy-nilly in hanky-panky with their secretaries.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 40: I’ve been tailing your sister and Kupferman. Not long enough to establish any routine, but long enough to tell you there’s no hanky-panky going on.
1990		S. Morgan Homeboy 308: It’s sexual hankypanky the board frowns on most.
1992		R.G. Barrett Davo’s Little Something 57: You just have my sister home at a respectable hour. And no hankypanky.
2005		J. Stahl I, Fatty 164: He needed evidence his wife was making hanky-panky.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Irish Fandango [ebook] A couple of domestic hanky-pankies had kept the rent paid.

2. (US) a carnival game.

1883		E. Field ‘Joseph Wilson’ Little Bk of Trib. Verse (1901) 205: Joseph Wilson — half-past one— Hanky-panky—lots of fun.
1908		N.Y. Eve. Journal 1 Sept. in Fleming Unforgettable Season (1981) n.p.: The great American game of ‘Hanky Pank’.
1961		J. Scarne Complete Guide to Gambling 681: Hanky Pank or Grind Store – any small-time carnival game which operates on nickel-and-dime play and requires a lot of action in order to grind out a profit.

3. (US) silly talk.

1902		Ade Forty Modern Fables 38: His Sense of Humor prevented him from [...] giving her any of this Mrs. E.D.N. Southworth Hanky-Pank.
1914		Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Sl. 42: hanky pank [...] Current in polite slangy circles. Insincere or trifling small talk; flattery; garrulousness.

4. sexual intercourse.

1984		Partridge DSUE (8th edn) 529: [...] C.20.
1984		Benjamin & Pearl Limericks Down Under 109: But when the chap said / ‘Let’s hop into bed,’ / Her answer was ‘No hanky-panky’.
1993		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read How to Shoot Friends 124: I swear on my gunsmith’s wooden leg that I never did no hanky panky with Renee Brack.
2002		M. Coles More Bible in Cockney 100: And no hanky-panky! Behave yourselves sexually.
2002		‘Bootscooter’ August Moone 9:28 🌐 [H]e doubted there was any hanky and or panky going on.
2002		R.G. Barrett Mystery Bay Blues 239: Watching a video, with maybe a little hank panky thrown in, would be absolutely delightful.
2012		(con. 1943) G.S. Manson Coorparoo Blues [ebook] ‘[Y]ou aren’t here [i.. a brothel] for any hanky panky, which means I don’t get me percentage’.

5. kissing and cuddling.

1993		M. Verdon Shawlies, Echo Boys, the Marsh and the Lanes 109: There was a little bit of hanky-panky going on in the gallery. Nothing too bad, only a bit of kissing and cuddling.
2005		Jade LB Keisha the Sket (2021) 90: ‘no hanky panky in d corridorz!’.